Exploring healthcare professionals’ views and approaches regarding COVID-19 vaccines

Year 2021, Volume: 4 Issue: 5, 692 - 697, 05.09.2021

Reyhan Öztürk

https://doi.org/10.32322/jhsm.952354

Cited By: 3

Abstract

Aim: While going through tough times in the fight against the pandemic, the approach of healthcare professionals to vaccination can enlighten the way of society. In our study, we aimed to investigate healthcare professionals’ views and approaches regarding the COVID-19 vaccine.
Methods: We carried out the study with a total of 500 voluntary healthcare professionals between January 2021 and April 2021. We administered a survey consisting of 15 multiple choice questions to the participants and put their responses into statistical analyses.
Results: There were a total of 500 participants, among whom 168 were males (33.6%). The mean age of the participants was 39.68 (21-62). While the number of physicians was 48 (9.6%), there were 158 (31.6%) nurses and midwives and 294 (58.8%) other healthcare personnel. Most of the participants (84.4%) thought the COVID-19 was a fatal infection. Again, the majority of participants believed in the necessity of vaccines (87%) and, especially, the COVID-19 (73.2%). Besides, the rate of those who were vaccinated against COVID-19 was 82%. Interestingly, about half of the participants (54%) believed in the protective effect of the vaccine. The participants showed ineffectiveness (34%) and side effects (28%) as the frequent reasons for non-vaccination. Among those who were positive towards vaccination, 16.7% had not been vaccinated yet. A substantial rate of the participants (67.4%) recommended the COVID-19 vaccine to those around them, but 6.8% did not. Sixty-three per cent of the participants would trust the local vaccine more. Finally, 67% of the participants thought that the vaccine would play a significant role in ending the pandemic.
Conclusion: In our study, we discovered that the vast majority of healthcare professionals were vaccinated and adopted a positive approach to vaccination. In addition, relevant training programs may help increase the number of individuals adopting entirely positive attitudes towards the vaccine.

Keywords

COVID-19 vaccine, healthcare professionals, survey, vaccine approach

References

• Taleghani N, Taghipour F. Diagnosis of COVID-19 for controlling the pandemic: A review of the state-of-the-art. Biosens Bioelectron 2021; 174: 112830.
• Mohamadian M, Chiti H, Shoghli A, Biglari S, Parsamanesh N, Esmaeilzadeh A. COVID-19: Virology, biology and novel laboratory diagnosis. J Gene Med 2021; 23: e3303.
• Umakanthan S, Sahu P, Ranade AV, et al. Origin, transmission, diagnosis and management of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Postgrad Med J 2020; 96: 753-8.
• Yüce M, Filiztekin E, Özkaya KG. COVID-19 diagnosis - A review of current methods. Biosens Bioelectron 2021; 172: 112752.
• Habas K, Nganwuchu C, Shahzad F, et al. Resolution of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther 2020; 18: 1201-11.
• Islam KU, Iqbal J. An Update on Molecular Diagnostics for COVID-19. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2020; 10: 560616.
• Soleimanpour S, Yaghoubi A. COVID-19 vaccine: where are we now and where should we go? Expert Rev Vaccines 2021; 20: 23-44.
• Awadasseid A, Wu Y, Tanaka Y, Zhang W. Current advances in the development of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. Int J Biol Sci 2021; 17: 8-19.
• Sharma NK, Sarode SC, Sarode G, Patil S. Is a COVID-19 vaccine developed by nature already at work? Med Hypotheses 2020; 145: 110335.
• Sreepadmanabh M, Sahu AK, Chande A. COVID-19: Advances in diagnostic tools, treatment strategies, and vaccine development. J Biosci 2020; 45: 148.
• Li YD, Chi WY, Su JH, Ferrall L, Hung CF, Wu TC. Coronavirus vaccine development: from SARS and MERS to COVID-19. J Biomed Sci 2020; 27: 104.
• Silveira MM, Moreira GMSG, Mendonça M. DNA vaccines against COVID-19: Perspectives and challenges. Life Sci 2021; 267: 118919.
• Mehrotra DV, Janes HE, Fleming TR, et al. Clinical Endpoints for evaluating efficacy in COVID-19 vaccine trials. Ann Intern Med 2021; 174: 221-8.
• Marian AJ. Current state of vaccine development and targeted therapies for COVID-19: impact of basic science discoveries. Cardiovasc Pathol 2021; 50: 107278.
• Liu X, Liu C, Liu G, Luo W, Xia N. COVID-19: Progress in diagnostics, therapy and vaccination. Theranostics 2020; 10: 7821-35.
• Chung JY, Thone MN, Kwon YJ. COVID-19 vaccines: The status and perspectives in delivery points of view. Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2021; 170: 1-25.
• Halstead SB, Katzelnick L. COVID-19 Vaccines: Should We Fear ADE? J Infect Dis 2020; 222: 1946-50.
• Omer SB, Salmon DA, Orenstein WA, deHart MP, Halsey N. Vaccine refusal, mandatory immunization, and the risks of vaccine-preventable diseases. N Engl J Med 2009; 360: 1981-8.
• Kader Ç. Aşı Karşıtlığı: Aşı Kararsızlığı Ve Aşı Reddi. ESTÜDAM Halk Sağlığı Dergisi 2019; 4: 377-88.
• Wakefield A, Murch S, Anthony A, et al. İleal-lenfoid-nodülerhiperplazi, spesifik olmayan kolit ve çocuklarda yaygın gelişimsel bozukluk. Lancet 1998; 351: 637–41.
• Puri N, Coomes EA, Haghbayan H, Gunaratne K. Social media and vaccine hesitancy: new updates for the era of COVID-19 and globalized infectious diseases. Hum VaccinImmunother 2020; 16: 2586-93.
• Argüt N, Yetim A, Gökçay G. Aşı kabulünü etkileyen faktörler. Çocuk Derg 2016; 16: 16-24.
• Karafillakis E, Dinca I, Apfel F, et al. Vaccine hesitancy among healthcare workers and their patients in Europe: A Qualitative Study. Vaccine 2016; 34: 5013-20.
• Ergün E, Ergün Ş, Çelebi İ. Acil Sağlık Hizmetleri Personellerinin COVID-19 Hakkında Bilgi, Korunma Düzeyleri Ve Etkileyen Etmenler. JOPEHS 2020; 1: 16-27.
• Arslanca T, Fidan C, Daggez M, Dursun P. Knowledge, preventive behaviors and risk perception of the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study in Turkish health care workers. PLoS One 2021; 16: e0250017.
• Gagneux-Brunon A, Detoc M, Bruel S, et al. Intention to get vaccinations against COVID-19 in French healthcare workers during the first pandemic wave: a cross-sectional survey. J Hosp Infect 2021; 108: 168-73.
• Dror AA, Eisenbach N, Taiber S, et al. Vaccine hesitancy: the next challenge in the fight against COVID-19. Eur J Epidemiol 2020; 35: 775-9.
• Ünal S , Tanrıöver MD, Taş E, Güner İ, Çetin ÖY, Sayar İ. Aile Hekimlerine Eğitim Verilmesi Ve Aşılama Hedeflerinin Belirlenmesinin Pnömokok Aşılanma Oranları Üzerine Etkileri. FLORA 2015; 20: 10-15
• Lazarus JV, Ratzan SC, Palayew A, et al. A global survey of potential acceptance of a COVID-19 vaccine. Nat Med 2021; 27: 225-8.
• Biswas N, Mustapha T, Khubchandani J, Price JH. The nature and extent of COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy in healthcare workers. J Community Health 2021; 20: 1–8.
• Lucia VC, Kelekar A, Afonso NM. COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among medical students. J Public Health (Oxf) 2020: fdaa230.
• Kul G, Korkmaz N. Sağlık Çalışanlarının İnfluenza Aşılamasına Yaklaşımı. J Contemp Med 2020; 10: 421-4.
• Sarı T, Temoçin F, Köse H. Sağlık çalışanlarının influenza aşısına yaklaşımları. Türkiye Klinik Derg 2017; 30: 59-63.